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Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Unboxing Fun

Hi everyone,

So today I'm going to do a bit of a beauty post. I love the concept of getting curated boxes in the mail, and I've tried a bunch of different ones over the last two years. I've done art supplies, snack, and some of my favorites are beauty boxes. I really enjoy these kinds of boxes because for beauty items Bryan gets bored if he goes shopping with me, and I don't really want to drag him out to specialty stores like Ulta, Sephora, and the like to make it even worse. Additionally I'm not always sure what to try, so trying a bunch of smaller samples can be great for someone like me since I don't usually wear a lot of makeup in the first place.

It's not because I don't enjoy wearing makeup, but mostly because I'm really pale so foundation and concealer are near impossible to find. I once tried to get makeup from MAC, but everything they made was just a shade or two too dark and probably oxidized on my skin before I left the mall. Not that I even knew it could oxidize, I thought it was just different in the sunlight than under artificial lights, and maybe I was right. It's been to long to know for sure. Plus my skin is rather sensitive, so that's another thing to work around. But with beauty boxes most of the items are less skin focused other than general skin care.

Without further ado let's get on with the unboxing!

The first box I want to share with you all is this month's Glossybox. The advantages of Glossybox are getting 5 (usually full size, if not travel size) items each month for $21. I find they're usually very good about picking things I would enjoy, and the more I fill out surveys the better my boxes are! Their products are also premium quality, mostly items that are found in specialty beauty stores, with some exceptions.

This lovely box comes packed inside a more sturdy shipping box.

Inside there's a product explanation and use sheet, and sometimes a coupon or other fun item of some sort.

In this box I received Emite blush in shade 108 (it came damaged, so I contacted Glossybox and they gave me my choice of a new item, pictured later below, since they had run out of the blush. I was actually happier about this because the blush was too dark for my skin anyway, which was a first for Glossybox items.), 12 Benefits Love At First Lather Shampoo, Biossanse Revitalizer serum, Nails Inc Uptown Nail Polish, and Julep's Luxe Up Your Lips in Sheer Pink. Here's what the information card was like folded open:

It has a ton of great info, I love how detailed it is and often refer back to it if I'm unsure of anything.

I was excited to get this because I really love lip products, and Julep makes very good ones, which you'll see more of later.

And this is the item I chose to replace the Emite blush, Nexxus Color Assure Shampoo. This is actually a size larger than what I'll be getting, but I received one a few months back and realized how well it worked on my brightly dyed hair and made the switch. I was using Herbal Essences Color Me Happy, which smells great, but doesn't work half as well as this! If you use more temporary colored dyes in bright shades like me I highly recommend it! This full size bottle can be found for about $14 at Kroger or other grocery stores (they recently had an online coupon for $3 off) or on Amazon too◊. If you like the sounds of Glossbox I feel it's definitely worth a try. If you do join I'd love it if you could use this link to tell them I sent you!

Next up is the Julep Maven Program's Jule Box

This is how it comes in the mail, a bit simpler than some boxes, but packed quite safely. It's my favorite beauty box for several reasons. 1 you can skip a month anytime you want, for as many month as you want. It's perfect for someone on a budget. 2. There are two box options, one gets you the monthly curated selections for your chosen profile for $20, which sometimes allows you to select a color for certain items like lip or eye color. Or you can pay $5 more and get to choose from about 100 different options for your box contents, usually ending up with 3 items, plus any add ons you might choose at a discounted price. 3. They specialize in nail polish! I may not be super when it comes to makeup, but with my nails I really try to be on point and keep them beautiful. So this is the perfect box for me! But if you only want a little nail polish that's ok too, they usually have boxes with both things and at least one with just makeup too!

When you open up the box it's got recyclable paper packing material inside, your items, plus a monthly card highlighting the items and sometimes a technique related to some of them, and sometimes an additional goodie or coupon. In this box I got a Plush Pout lip crayon in Magenta Plum Creme, and 3 nail polishes, one of which was an add on item.

It looks pretty dark, and I was a little scared it wouldn't suit me when I pulled it out, but as you can see below it's a great color for me!

This month's card has a couple lip techniques plus how to get the dewy look. And yes, feel free to use that code if you're already a Julep member, but if you're not keep scrolling down because there's a better deal for new members below.

Here are the three nail polishes. Julep names their polish colors after women, so these colors are Ellis, Delores, and Lydia! They're really beautiful shades with Eliis being a soft pinkish lavender with silver undertones from the holographic qualities. It doesn't come off like glitter polish does, but is much easier to remove, which I love! Delores is also a holographic with a purple and silver finish. And finally Lydia (yay after 2 years they finally made my name a color!) is a pyrite metallic that shifts between old gold, olive, and brass tones and has a stardust finish. Julep's stardust finishes are highly textured, with a little less shine, but a bit more glitter mixed in. They dry really well and there's an example below too.

Here we have Delores on my toenails.

And on my hands I've got Glam Roc a purple black stardust finish, to give you some idea of the level of shine it gets.

And here you can see swatches of each color, Delores, Ellis, and Lydia. Their polishes are free of the 5 big toxic components that have been traditionally used in nail polishes. And the quality of their polish is amazing. Without a top or bast coat they last about 3-4 days without chipping, and with the base and top coasts I usually go a week without chipping. If you use this affiliate link you can get a great deal on your first box◊! And after that you can skip as many months as you want, though if you do buy anything they do pass a $15 credit on to me, and you can get the same for referring your friend, who can also get free boxes. There is really nothing to lose in trying this box out, which makes me love it more. And no, I don't get paid to say anything about the content of this post, just normal customer rewards programs, which you all can take or leave as you wish.And for those of you who aren't as interested in this type of post, don't worry, I plan to only do one per month of this sort, and I'll be rotating through some other boxes, so perhaps another one may suit your interests better! Next month I'll show you the goodies I get in my trial of Japan Crate, a box with over a pound of Japanese snacks. I'll see you all Wednesday for a new book review and more.Love,Lydia

Welcome

Hi, I'm Lydia! Here you'll find posts about the many things I love in life - fashion, beauty, books, travel, art, family, DIY, games and geeky fun, photography, and more. I also make videos so, hop over to YouTube to hear about more of the fun. Sit down and read a note or two, and feel free to write one back. I enjoy hearing people's stories and getting to know who they are. Find out more on the About Me page in the top bar.

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